A-FAN expands video library with videos on animal care, sow housing

LINCOLN, NE — While livestock producers strive daily to provide good care for their animals, questions remain as to how and why farmers do some of the things they do. To help answer these questions, the Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska (A-FAN) added two new videos to its online library available at www.a-fan.org.

The latest two videos, one that focuses on sow housing and another on beef cattle, bring the total number of videos produced by the organization to more than a dozen. The videos can also be found on A-FAN’s YouTube channel at www.YouTube.com/NebraskaAgriculture.

“Many people have questions about why farmers do certain things when raising livestock. These new videos and the others we’ve produced let everyone hear directly from the farmers themselves and see what they are talking about,” said Roger Berry, A-FAN Field Director.

One of the new videos features Dorchester, Neb., beef producer Joel Weber who explains the importance of providing good care for cattle. He notes that well cared for cattle perform better and produce better beef. Weber is a fourth generation farmer and follows source verified production practices that results in beef shipments to Japan. Weber also emphasizes caring for the environment.

“We put dollar after dollar into protecting the environment, making sure what we are doing is not going to harm my generation or my kids generation or future generations to come,” Weber said in the video.

The second video features Terry O’Neel, a hog farmer from Friend, Neb. O’Neel explains why he houses sows individually and how that individual care benefits the animals, maintains herd health and ultimately provides better pork.

O’Neel said individual housing allows him to make sure each sow is fed well and properly cared for – and protected from other sows who try and establish a pecking order within the herd. Individual housing also protects the farmer, allows farmers to use high-quality genetic material to produce better pork and helps protect 3.5-pound baby pigs from being sat on by the 500-600 pound sow.

“These two new videos are a great addition to our video library, which offers tremendous insight into livestock operations and explains the importance of livestock production to the state’s economy,” Berry said.

Having questions about livestock and food production is natural, he said, especially as fewer people have direct ties to farms.

“We hope these videos help answer some questions but also encourage a positive dialogue between farmers and those looking to learn more about what it takes to raise livestock and produce the high-quality products available today,” he said. “With modern communication tools it is easy to ask a farmer directly about livestock and food production. What consumers will learn is that today’s livestock producers share their values and strive to produce safe, wholesome food.”

Berry said there are farmers online writing blogs, maintaining Facebook pages and responding to questions via Twitter. “People used to be able to ask their relatives about livestock production,” he said. “While that may not be the case anymore, people can instead use these communication tools to reach out and ask a farmer, ‘Why do you do that?’”

A-FAN also has a presence on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/AFANpage or via a link at www.a-fan.org.

A-FAN is a non-profit agriculture promotion, education and producer assistance organization. It was formed in 2006 by Nebraska producer organizations to support the expansion of responsible livestock production across the state. Farmers, ranchers and communities interested in learning more about the services provided by A-FAN are encouraged to visit www.A-FAN.org or call toll free 1.888.580.AFAN (1.888.580.2326).